Genesis 18

Thomson^{(i) 1} Again God appeared to him at the Oak grove of Mambre. As he was sitting at the door of his tent at noon, ² he raised his eyes and looked, and lo! three men stood above him. And when he saw them he ran to meet them from the door of his tent; and having made obeisance to the ground, ³ he said, My Lord, if I have found favour in thy sight, pass not by thy servant. ⁴ Let water, I pray thee, be brought and let your feet be washed; and refresh yourselves under this tree; ⁵ and I will fetch bread that you may eat. And after that you may proceed on your journey, in as much as you have turned aside to your servant. Whereupon he said, Do as thou hast said. ⁶ Then Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said to her, Haste, and mix up three measures of fine flour and make cakes on the hearth. ⁷ Then Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf tender and good and gave it to a servant and urged him to dress it quickly. ⁸ And he took butter and milk and the calf which he had dressed and set it before them, and they ate, and be stood by them under the tree. ⁹ And be said to Abraham, Where is Sarah thy wife? And Abraham said, Behold! in the tent. ¹⁰ Then he said, I will return and come to thee about this time twelve month, and Sarah thy wife will have a son. And Sarah heard, being at the door of the tent behind them. ¹¹ [Now Abraham and Sarah were far advanced in life, and it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.] ¹² And Sarah smiled within herself, saying, It hath never been so with me even to this time, and my lord is old. ¹³ And the Lord said to Abraham, Why did Sarah smile within herself, saying, Shall I indeed bring forth? I who am old? ¹⁴ Can any thing be impossible with God? About this time twelve month I will return to thee, and Sarah shall have a son. ¹⁵ Then Sarah denied, saying, I did not smile, for she was terrified. And he said to her, Nay, but thou didst smile. ¹⁶ Then the men arose and directed their course towards Sodom and Gomorra, and Abraham went with them to conduct them on the way. ¹⁷ And the Lord said, Shall I hide from my servant Abraham, what I am going to do? ¹⁸ Abraham shall indeed become a nation great and numerous; and by him all the nations of the earth are to be blessed. ¹⁹ For I know that he will command his children and his household after him, who are to keep the ways of the Lord, to execute judgment and justice, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham all that he hath spoken to him. ²⁰ Then the Lord said, The cry of Sodom and Gomorra hath been multiplied before me, and their sins are exceedingly great, ²¹ therefore I am come down to see whether they do to each other according to the cry which is come to me; and if not, that I may know. ²² Now the men had turned thence and were gone on to Sodom, but Abraham was still standing before the Lord. ²³ And Abraham drew near and said, Thou wouldst not destroy a righteous with a wicked man! Shall a righteous man be as the wicked? ²⁴ Should there be fifty righteous men in the city, wilt thou destroy them? Wilt thou not spare the whole city for the sake of fifty righteous, if they be there? ²⁵ Thou canst not do such a thing as this to slay the righteous with the wicked. Shall the righteous be as the wicked? No, no; Thou who judgest the whole earth; wilt not thou execute judgment? ²⁶ And the Lord said, If there be among the Sodomites fifty righteous men in the city, I will spare the whole city and the whole place for their sake. ²⁷ Then Abraham answered and said, Now I have taken upon me to speak to my Lord, I who am but dust and ashes! ²⁸ But if the fifty righteous be lessened to forty five wilt thou for want of the five destroy the whole city? And he said, I will not destroy it, if I find there forty five. ²⁹ And Abraham proceeded farther to speak to him and said, But if there be found there forty? And he said For the sake of the forty I will not destroy it. ³⁰ Then Abraham said, Wilt thou, Lord, be offended if I speak? But if there be found there thirty? ³¹ And he said, I will not; destroy it, for the sake of the thirty. Again Abraham said, Since I am permitted to speak to the Lord, If twenty be found there? ³² And he said I will not destroy it, if I find twenty there. And Abraham said, Wilt thou, Lord, be offended, if I speak yet once more? But if ten be found there? And he said, For the sake of ten I will not destroy it. ³³ Then the Lord having done speaking to Abraham departed, and Abraham returned to his place.